It has been common practice for many years now to make a tape measure by forming a narrow strip of flexible material, usually metal marked with units of length into a coil and housing it in a generally rectangular container from which the tape can be withdrawn and retracted for use.
Various devices have been used over the years to secure the tape measure when not in use to the clothing of the user, such as belt clips and various types of hooks or the like. With most prior art devices, it has often been necessary to use both hands to clip a tape measure to the belt or pocket or to secure it on a hook or other attachment and it has frequently resulted in the tape measure not being replaced in its proper storage holder, but merely laid on a work bench where it can easily be knocked on the floor or become covered with other work.
Recently, a magnetic tool holder for a tape measure has been developed which is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 519,586, filed May 7, 1990 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,966 issued Jun. 25, 1991. in which a belt mountable body has a magnet mounted in a self-centering receptacle and the tape to be mounted thereon has a metallic keeper mounted on the tool so as to mate with the magnet on the body of the magnetic tool holder. The apparatus shown in said patent application has proven very satisfactory for certain applications, however in others it has been found that the holding power has not been uniform and that the centering action has not been positive enough to ensure that the tool is safely held in the holder under all conditions. In use it is very important that an object such as a twenty-five foot tape measure be securely held to the mounting holder so that it cannot be accidentally knocked loose from the belt of the user.
Similarly, while it can sometimes be arranged to have a very strong holding force, if the force is too great, it then becomes next to impossible to remove the tape measure from the belt without either breaking the belt or the mounting holder and this, again, makes the device very impracticable and unusable.